alimenter

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French

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Etymology

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From aliment +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /a.li.mɑ̃.te/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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alimenter

  1. to feed, to give food to
    Synonyms: nourrir, repaître, donner à manger, sustenter
    Antonym: affamer
    • 1933, Joseph Malègue, Augustin ou le maître est là, page 384:
      Alimentez-le, Madame, ce malade-là (...) De braves petits plats, œufs frais, bonne viande. Il aime les nouilles ? Oui ? Donnez-lui en.
      Madam, feed that patient (...) Nice little meals, fresh eggs, some nice meat. He likes noodles? He does? Give him some.
  2. to supply, to fund
    Synonym: approvisionner
    • 1962, Bertrand Goldschmidt, L'Aventure atomique, page 92:
      Ces nouvelles ressources en uranium vont servir à alimenter trois usines, les plus coûteuses du monde, qui vont être construites à partir de 1951, par l’industrie privée.
      Those new sources of uranium will be used to supply three factories, the costliest in the world, which will be built from 1951 onward by the private industry.
  3. (figurative) to fuel, feed (e.g. an argument)
    Synonym: nourrir
    • 1922, Marcel Proust, À la recherche du temps perdu, page 635:
      M. de Norpois rompit enfin le silence pour prononcer ces mots qui devaient pendant vingt ans alimenter la conversation des chancelleries ...
      Mr de Norpois finally broke the silence to utter those words that will feed the conversations of chancelleries for twenty years...
  4. (reflexive) to eat, to feed
    • 1928, Roger Martin du Gard, Les Thibault, page 1196:
      M. Thibault qui ne s’alimentait plus, était très faible, et ne cessait pas de souffrir.
      Mr Thibault – who had stopped eating by now – was very weak and couldn't stop suffering.

Conjugation

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle French

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Verb

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alimenter

  1. to feed; to provide nourishment

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
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